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The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
Regarding the media enquiry today (September 19), Caritas Medical Centre (CMC) spokesperson has the following reply:
A 7 years old male patient was sent to Accident Emergency Department (A & E) of Prince Margaret Hospital (PMH) at 12.37pm on September 17 for left eye injury sustained at school. He was attended by doctor at 1.07pm. The PMH doctor contacted CMC on-call ophthalmologist and after discussion decided to send the patient to our Ophthalmology Specialist Out-Patient Clinic (SOPC) for further follow-up. The patient was discharged from A & E of PMH at 2.10pm.
The case was triaged by our on-duty specialist immediate upon patient's arrival at SOPC and consultation was arranged on the same day. As patient's relative could not provide the valid identity document for patient's registration, our staff explained to the relative the relevant policy, and suggested that she could either request the school to send copy of the identity document via facsimile to the hospital, pay as "Non-eligible Persons" and get the refund after validation of patient's status, or ask another family member to bring the required document to SOPC for processing. The patient's relative then expressed that she would ask another family member to fetch the document for her.
The family member arrived with patient's identity card at 3.14pm. The boy was then attended by doctor immediately and a provisional diagnosis of corneal abrasion without imminent risk of visual loss was made. The whole consultation was completed at 3.49pm and the patient was discharged with follow-up appointment on the next day.
The hospital is aware of the parent's upset and concern regarding the registration procedure. The hospital will review the procedure under the existing policy and explore ways of better facilitating patients for their consultation.
The hospital noted that the patient did not turn up for the scheduled follow-up appointment. We have contacted his parent to learn about the patient's condition and offered follow-up assessment of the patient as soon as possible.
Ends/Saturday, September 19, 2009
Issued at HKT 16:20
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